A well written book with down to earth wisdom, you can't put it down!

Normal? Whos normal? Not you, thats for sure! No one youve ever met, either. None of us are normal according to Gods definition, and the closer we get to each other, the plainer that is. But despite the title, this book doesn’t focus on individual differences – it’s about community and relationships, particularly between Christians. For all our quirks, sins, and jagged edges, we need each other. Community is more that just a word – it is one of our most fundamental requirements. So how do flawed, abnormal people such as ourselves master the forces that can drive us apart and come together in the life-changing relationships God designed us for? We both read this book over the summer and found it very motivating – to change, to repent, to set different priorities. John Ortberg is a pastor who writes with great humour, honesty, and the wisdom of experience dealing with people; he is a great storyteller; and he gives practical tools for how to draw closer to others in powerful, impacting ways. His chapter titles include Authenticity, Acceptance, Empathy and Conflict; Forgiveness, Confrontation, Inclusion and Gratitude. A couple of examples. On Authenticity, Ortberg says “The irony of masks is that although we wear them to make other people think well of us, they are drawn to us only when we take them off.” On Conflict, he observes that we normally “stop at 90%” – in a difficult conversation we hold back from saying the hardest and most important truth, for fear of deeper conflict. He shares how, in the context of a mutually committed management team, he challenges them to “go the last 10%”. The book finishes with a very insightful chapter on heaven, where we finally will be “normal”.